How will Australia cope with the Bondi beach shooting?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Globalist – How will Australia cope with the Bondi beach shooting?

Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Emma Nelson
Guests: Latika Book (The Nightly Australia), Alison Kaplan Sommer (Haaretz), Nick Bryant (Author), Inga Thordar (Canalur), Adam Hancock (Journalist), Michael Tatarsky (Vietnam Weekly)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Globalist centers on the aftermath and implications of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney, during a Hanukkah ceremony—a tragedy that left 15 people dead and sent shockwaves through Australia and the global Jewish community. The discussion addresses the context, security challenges, political and societal fallout, and Australia’s response to anti-Semitic violence. The show also covers related global topics, but this summary focuses on the Bondi event and its analysis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Bondi Beach Shooting: What Happened?

• Event recap: Two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah ceremony on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people. The attack is described as one of the worst in Australia's modern history and is widely characterized as an act of anti-Semitic terrorism.
• Victims: Alison Kaplan Sommer reported that several victims were affiliated with the Chabad Jewish organization, including at least one French national, one Israeli citizen, and reportedly a 10-year-old girl (03:30).

2. The Impact on Jewish Communities

• Heightened fear: Jewish communities had long warned of rising anti-Semitism and feared such an attack. Alison Kaplan Sommer notes, “incidences of anti-Semitic violence and attacks have really spiked in all countries...it’s grown.” (13:49)
• Global reach: The consequences reach far beyond Australia, with concerns echoed in Jewish communities worldwide.

3. Australian Political and Societal Fallout

• Political pressure: Latika Book highlights criticism of the Labor government’s stance on anti-Semitism, especially since October 7th, and its attempts to “eradicate anti-Semitism.” She describes a “crescendo” of political debate fueled by both domestic and global tensions (04:30).
• Soul-searching: Australian society is described as having been changed permanently. “This country is unrecognizable. It's not the same. We are now changed forever.” – Latika Book (14:58)
• Visible security: Nick Bryant, living in Bondi, observes, “I walk through Bondi every single day...I see Jewish kindergartens that have a really high level of security.” (06:26)

4. Security and Gun Laws

• Security criticism: Discussion around failures in intelligence and security response is prominent:
  • One shooter was “known to ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) since 2019” (08:10).
  • A local Pakistani fruit grocer, Ahmed al Ahmed, is hailed as a hero for disarming one of the attackers, possibly saving dozens (08:10, 30:21).
• Gun law review: Despite Australia’s strict gun laws (a legacy of the Port Arthur massacre), questions are raised about how the shooter held six firearms legally.
  • “Australia's gun laws have been a resounding and astounding success. We do not have mass shootings...This is really and truly a one off.” – Latika Book (10:38)
  • Yet, the event triggers a call by PM Anthony Albanese for another review of gun regulations (10:08).

5. The Broader International Context

• Potential copycats and polarization: Fears grow over possible copycat attacks and increasing polarization around the Israel-Gaza conflict.
• Online radicalization and foreign links: There is speculation about possible foreign (e.g., Iranian) involvement or inspiration, as seen in online radicalization efforts globally (11:46).

6. The Heroism of Ahmed al Ahmed

• Memorable moment: Andrew Muller’s commentary pays tribute to Ahmed al Ahmed—a shopkeeper who tackled and disarmed a gunman:
  • “He could easily have taken cover and nobody would have blamed him if he had. Instead, he launched himself at an armed and self-evidently murderous maniac.” (30:21)
  • Muller sees his courage as the attitude Australia—and all nations—should adopt against antisemitism.

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Notable Quotes

• Alison Kaplan Sommer on global antisemitism:
  “Incidences of anti-Semitic violence and attacks have really spiked in all countries...it’s grown.” (13:49)
• Latika Book on Australia’s shock:
  “This country is unrecognizable. It's not the same. We are now changed forever.” (14:58)
• Nick Bryant on local realities:
  “I see Jewish kindergartens that have a really high level of security, sort of cameramen, guards outside the gates...Bondi often feels that it is a sort of safe haven.” (06:26)
• Andrew Muller on heroism:
  “All of us individuals and societies prefer to think of ourselves as noble...A middle-aged shopkeeper from Sydney has demonstrated the attitude that Australia...should take to the eternal lunacy of anti-Semitism. Nope. No you don’t. Not here.” (30:21)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:30] – Alison Kaplan Sommer reports on the victims and immediate context.
• [04:30] – Latika Book explains the political and societal backdrop in Australia.
• [06:26] – Nick Bryant describes the visible security in Bondi and the sense of safety under strain.
• [08:10] – Discussion on possible intelligence failures and heroism during the attack.
• [10:08-10:38] – Gun law review and questions about firearm access.
• [11:46] – Alison Kaplan Sommer on concerns over international inspiration for such attacks.
• [13:49] – The difficulty Jewish communities face in separating criticism of Israel from antisemitism.
• [14:58] – Latika Book on the national mood and sense of shock.
• [30:21] – Andrew Muller’s commentary on the national response and heroism.

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Tone & Language

The episode’s tone is sober, urgent, and reflective—mirroring the gravity of the tragedy, with moments of empathy and resolve, particularly in tributes to heroic actions and commentary on national values.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Globalist delivers a comprehensive analysis of the Bondi Beach shooting, exploring the tragedy’s immediate and long-term impact on Australia, its Jewish community, and broader civil discourse. It underscores challenges in balancing security with multicultural openness and highlights voices of resilience and heroism amid rising global hate.

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For more in-depth coverage, further segments on political developments in Chile, Hong Kong, and Vietnam were discussed in the remainder of the episode.

Transcript

[UBS Narrator]

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[Emma Nelson]

You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on the 15th of December, 2025 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from London. This is THE Globalist with me, Emma Nelson. A very warm welcome to today's program. Coming up, 15 people are shot dead at a Hanukkah ceremony on Sydney's Bondi beach as the attack sends shock waves across the world's Jewish community. We'll hear from voices in Australia and Israel. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes.

[Nick Bryant]

The court particularly highlighted that the testimony.

[Father Christmas]

Of the lie is a contradiction, inconsistent and reliable. And also highlighted that he is the.

[Nick Bryant]

Mastermind of the three charges.

[Emma Nelson]

The pro democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai is found guilty of sedition by a court in Hong Kong. We'll examine how this is a test of judicial independence and media freedom. We'll go through the papers and I'm.

[Father Christmas]

Happy to bring people and families and friends together. I believe in Christmas. People are thinking about things that really matter to them. I'm sure of it.

[Emma Nelson]

An interview with Santa Claus. That's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a quick look at what else is happening in today's news. Hong Kong's last major opposition Democratic party has been disbanded. Its demise is being seen as a culmination of Beijing's pressure on free speech. President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to drop Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO. And Thailand's military is considering blocking fuel exports to Cambodia as fighting between the two countries spreads. Stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But first, an act of evil, anti Semitism terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation. The words of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he condemned yesterday's shooting at Bondi beach in Sydney. Fifteen people have now died when two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah ceremony. Mr. Albanese is to review the country's gun laws. It is one of the worst shootings in modern Australian history. So I'm joined now from Melbourne by Latika Book, his writer at large for the Nightly Australia, and by Alison Kaplan Sommer, journalist for Haratz in Tel Aviv. And from Sydney we have Nick Bryant, the author of the Forever War, America's Unending Conflict with Itself, former BBC US Correspondent too. Alison, a very good morning to you in Tel Aviv.

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

Good morning to you.

[Emma Nelson]

Do you have more information about the victims for us?

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

Well, we know that a certain number of the victims are members of Chabad, which is the ultra Orthodox organization which put on the Hanukkah festival on the beach. We know that at least, at least four or five, probably more of the victims are affiliated with Chabad. We know that there is a French national who was killed, the French government has acknowledged that. And at least one Israeli citizen who has been killed. There is talk of a 10 year old girl has also been killed, but I haven't heard final confirmation of that. But people were talking about that most of the day. And I believe that's also true that there's at least one child victim.

[Emma Nelson]

Let's bring you in now, Latika, because when you look at Bondi beach, it is a place, a location which sums up what happiness, relaxation. Australia. It is absolutely at its sunniest and yet we see the scenes here and we've had the chief rabbi of the Central Sydney Synagogue saying the inevitable has happened. Now what did he mean by look.

[Latika Book]

This is a terrible massacre that has happened not out of context. Ever since October 7th, the labor government here has been under fierce pressure and criticism from Jewish groups and the Israeli government increasingly about what they perceive to be a weakness in standing up to antisemitism. And this all came to a crescendo last night. And this is really exploding to a very tense political debate that I think we'll see a lot more of over the coming days and weeks and one that will certainly also reach into migration debate. But the government for its part has said it will do everything it can to eradicate anti Semitism. I mean, that's a very bold call. This is not an ancient hatred without that name for a reason. And so this has really set off a big community as soul searching and round of soul searching about just how much the things Gaza marches that we saw, we saw a huge one in August over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But at that march, key labor party figures were seen marching unwittingly, they said, in front of an image of for example, the Iranian Ayatollah. So this is not something that has just happened out of the blue. Jewish groups have been saying for some time that they feared for their safety in Australia and that what happened on Sunday night at Bondi is merely Confirmation of their very worst fears.

[Emma Nelson]

Let's bring in Nick in Sydney. Welcome, Nick, thank you for joining us.

[Nick Bryant]

Yeah, hi.

[Emma Nelson]

Now, when it comes to the way that Australia has been managing this, what Latika has just described, is there a sense that actually on the ground that people feel safe, that security services do have an idea, have a clue of what is actually going along, going on?

[Nick Bryant]

Well, I live in Bondi. I live five minutes away from where the attack happened. And I walk through Bondi every single day.

[Adam Hancock]

And what I see as I walk.

[Nick Bryant]

Through Bondi is synagogues that are much.

[Father Christmas]

More heavily protected than they used to be. I see Jewish kindergartens that have a.

[Nick Bryant]

Really sort of high level of security, sort of cameramen, guards outside the gates. You also see in Bondi concrete bollards that were put there in 2020 to.

[Father Christmas]

Guard against an ISIS style attack.

[Nick Bryant]

And I think Australia often feels that Bondi is a sort of safe haven.

[Father Christmas]

That the country is a kind of refuge from the troubles of the world there' here, that conflicts of other lands.

[Nick Bryant]

Aren'T re litigated or reformed on Australian soil.

[Father Christmas]

But I think if you've lived in Bondi and the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

[Nick Bryant]

Where Bondi is for the past sort.

[Father Christmas]

Of couple of years and listened to the Jewish community, many of them are.

[Nick Bryant]

Saying, you know, we do fear for our safety. And indeed, you know, leading figures in the Jewish community have said the writing was on the wall. We just didn't listen carefully enough to people who are expressing such deep concern about the potentiality of this kind of attack.

[Emma Nelson]

And Latika, coming back to you, that, you know, the big security issue here is planning that, you know, Nick describes a scene of visible policing by the Australian authorities when it comes to Jewish communities, at least along where he lives in Bondi. Yet the idea of planning and the centralized idea of keeping a country safe and keeping its security absolutely front and center, how much trust is there in that?

[Latika Book]

Yeah, this is going to be a big topic, I think, in coming days because at least one of these, this father son duo was actually known to ASIO as far back as 2019 for, quote, association with others. Now, he was then assessed to not be a threat. We now know, of course, that's completely deadly wrong. So there will be questions about whether this was an intelligence failure. There will also be questions about the time it took for New South Wales police to get to the scene and disarm these shooters. You may have seen, Emma, there was this absolutely stunningly heroic act from actually a, a Pakistani fruit grocer from Southwest Sydney, who tore in with his bare hands and took the gun out of one of the shooter's hands and then turned the weapon back on the shooter. Now he's in hospital with injuries, but he certainly saved at least dozens of lives. And so the, the coronial inquiry that will naturally ensue, the full inquir, the authorities that will also naturally occur. I think we'll take a very close look. But I think also there is an understanding that simply Azo, the spy agency here, cannot keep control or tabs on everyone who they deem a threat. The other side of this coin is the gun control. Australia has very strict gun laws. I grew up with port, the Port Arthur massacre. Australia is very proud of its gun laws. We see ourselves as a world leader in becoming very strict and really stopping massacres like this ever since. So this is also a shock because the shooter here, the father, had a firearms license to hold six guns, but he lived in suburban Sydney. You're really only meant to have firearms in Australia if you live on a farm or you're a fisher or a shooter. There will also be questions about how this man was able to obtain so many firearms license licenses and for what purpose.

[Emma Nelson]

And I'll stay with you on Latika on this one because we'll, we'll go a little bit further on this. That the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the country's gun laws are going to be reviewed. The way that you described it there was obviously the anomaly of this man having six guns in a suburban place. Does that suggest actually that it doesn't matter how tight your gun laws are, that the wider question is that somebody somewhere will always manage to get a gun if they really want to?

[Inga Thordar]

No.

[Latika Book]

I think Australia's gun laws have been a resounding and astounding success. We do not have mass shootings. And part of the reason why you're seeing the absolute disbelief, shock and horror here in Australia, but also around the world is because people know we are a country that does not have mass shootings. We do not have a culture of mass shootings. And so this is really and truly a one off. What the question will be is that in this climate, in the context of this being an anti Semitic attack, as opposed to a lone wolf radicalised or self radicalised attack, the kind of terror attacks that Australians have been more used to, the worry is could this inspire copycats, could this inspire retaliation? Could this inspire. Or do we see other examples of where the gun laws have been? There's been a crack that that someone has been able to slip through. I think that is more the Alison.

[Emma Nelson]

Kaplan summer in Tel Aviv. Let's ask you that question. How worried is there that something could happen now as a directive result of what happened in Bondi?

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

Well, I don't think it's been fully investigated. So it is possible that this father and son just sort of sat by themselves and decided to carry out this assault. But I think there's gonna be thorough intelligence and investigation, probably, you know, helped by other international agencies to see if there was some sort of Iranian connection. We see here in Israel, there's a lot of reaching out, you know, to individuals on the Internet, various guises, Iranian intelligence, who inspire or pay people to gather intelligence, and not to the extent that they carry out attacks. But it'll be interesting to see if there is any kind of outside entity involved in the inspiration of this father and son to do it. Really, it's still a question mark. We have no idea whether it was a form of lone wolf, two lone wolves, or if there was some sort of organization beyond that. But there is an issue of legitimization of the Israeli officials here are talking about slogans that were chanted, as you say, with those labor officials on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Globalize the intifada. And that globalize the intifada, when you legitimize that slogan can be interpreted as legitimizing attacks against Jews who support Israel, which is sort of an, an underground or a quiet way of a slippery slope in that it is fair to have Jews as a target if you oppose Israel's policies in Gaza, that Jews everywhere are a target of that. So that's going to be a big debate. How much can you oppose Israel's policies in Gaza without stepping over that line into antisemitism?

[Emma Nelson]

And staying with you, Alison, it's difficult to generalize globally, but it's not long since we saw the attack on a synagogue in Manchester here in the United Kingdom. So there are examples. There are more and more incidences of anti Semitic acts. How difficult is it for Jewish communities to A, feel safe and B, feel as if they can separate the issues that you've just talked about?

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

It's very, very difficult for them to separate the issues. And if you look on any objective survey, I mean, including in Australia, just since October 7, the incidences of anti Semitic violence and attacks have really spiked in all countries in the United States, in Great Britain, in Australia, France, you know, you can you name it and it's grown. So there is that. That problem and you know, there's that irony coming from the perspective of an Israeli that, you know, the country of Israel was supposed to make Jews feel more secure and strong around the world, knowing that there was a Jewish state to support them and back them up. And so it's sort of a horrible tragedy that Jews around the world are now feeling that the existence of a Jewish state is endangering them rather than protecting them.

[Emma Nelson]

Latika, that community will be in very obvious shock. But there is the wider sense, isn't there, that Australians need to live outside and enjoy their lives as do the rest of the world. And we've just seen France pre recording its New Year's Eve celebrations this year for partly, it is assumed, because of security issues. What does this now change about Australia?

[Latika Book]

I do think this has changed the country just the way, the same way that Port Arthur really defines an era of how we view terrorism, how we viewed gun controls and also how we view what we do in the aftermath of terrible attacks. I think this one is much, much harder to deal with because it involves anti Semitism, it involves the polarization around the war in Gaza and of course, it involves what will be a really toxic political debate as I outlined earlier. I don't, I have been stunned today by how many people I have spoken to, politicians, community figures who have been in tears, who have said to me, this country is unrecognizable. It's not the same. We are now changed forever. And I think it is very sad to say, but I think that they are true.

[Emma Nelson]

Let's seek a book writer at large for the Nightly Australia on the Line from Melbourne, Alison Kaplan Sommer, journalist for Harrods in Tel Aviv, and Nick Bryant, the author of the Forever War and America's Unending Conflict with Itself, on the line from Sydney. Thank you all for joining us on the Globalist. Now, Chile's president elect, the far right politician Jose Antonio Cast, has promised to restore respect for the law following his convincing victory in Sunday's runoff. It marks Chile's sharper's rightward turn since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1990. To explain all, I'm joined in the studio by Antonio Sampaio. He's an expert on Latin American politics and security. Good morning, Antonio. Good to have you with us.

[Nick Bryant]

Good morning.

[Emma Nelson]

This was a landslide victory.

[Nick Bryant]

It was. It was larger than expected, 58% of the votes approximately to cast and it was strongly led by the issue of crime and immigration. Chile is undergoing more than a quantitative increase in crime. It's going through a qualitative sort of change in terms of how crime takes place. And that has scared a lot of Chileans. There are more organized and violent, brutal organized criminal gangs, including one that is called Trend Aragua, which is also on the target list for Trump administration in the U.S. it's a Venezuelan sort of originally criminal gang. And that has led also to some fears over immigration.

[Emma Nelson]

So let's talk about the criminality aspect first. Is this election of cast a direct reaction to this?

[Nick Bryant]

Oh yes, definitely. There has been debate in Chilean media over however, to what extent caste has exaggerated the issue of crime because Chile is still immensely more safe, more secure than neighboring countries. Chile is one of the safest countries in South America, but crime has increased over depends on the time period you're looking at. So between 2018 and 2022 there has been significant increase in homicides, but there's even from 2022 to now it has slightly decreased. But as I said, the types of crimes like in terms of brutal targeted killings and more serious organized crime has increased.

[Emma Nelson]

So explain a little bit more about Jose Antonio Cast. He's a former lawmaker, he's the son of German post war immigrants, yet he is anti immigration.

[Nick Bryant]

Yes, he's far right, very ultra conservative. And unlike in some aspects, in terms of social issues, he is even more conservative than many of his far right sort of colleagues around the world in terms of being against same sex marriage. He's also very strongly against abortion. So several very conservative issues. And for Chile, it's a strange return to a sort of ideology that hasn't really been seen, although in a different context since the military regime with Augusto Pinochet.

[Latika Book]

So.

[Nick Bryant]

It is uncharted waters for Chile, at least in terms of how that far right sort of positioning conservatism will play out in a democratic Chile.

[Emma Nelson]

It is an interesting point you raise about Pinochet. His regime ended in what, 1990? And the ability for a country to forget.

[Nick Bryant]

Yes, the country hasn't really forgotten, but it has changed a lot. And it is the first time that I strongly sort of far right figure goes to the presidential election. He gave a victory speech a few hours ago and as usual with victory speeches in elections, he has been very magnanimous and promised to govern for all Chileans. There are issues that will decide how Chileans feel about whether he's an authoritarian leaning sort of leader, especially in terms of immigration, because he's promised to send Venezuelan migrants back to their country just with the clothes on their backs and very strong language and also building walls around the Bolivian and the Peruvian borders. So those issues are first of all very expensive, very difficult to achieve and also potentially leading to images of migrants being dragged and placed in arrest type facilities.

[Emma Nelson]

Antonio Sampaio, thank you so much for joining me in the studio. Antonio's an expert on Latin American politics and security. You're listening to the Globalist with me, Emma Nelson here in London.

[Michael Palin]

Still to come, if there's a funny idea and it ran out of steam, put it next to another funny idea and create a sort of surrealist stream.

[Emma Nelson]

Of consciousness effect, the former Monty Python told Global Traveller. Sir Michael Palin tells Monocle Radio about his career in one of the world's most famous and indeed funniest comedy creation groups. Stay with us.

[UBS Narrator]

CRAFT is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office House View, we're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS banking is our craft.

[Emma Nelson]

07:21 Here in London, we're looking at today's newspapers. Joining me in the studio is Inga Thordar, who's chief catalyst officer at Canalur and former senior editor at CNN and the BBC. A very good morning, Inga.

[Inga Thordar]

Good morning.

[Emma Nelson]

She walked in, she looked wonderful. I said, how are you? And you said, you're doing an event. So what's happening at what is Kanaloa?

[Inga Thordar]

Well, Kanaloa is a philanthropic venture. We are trying to increase the amount of philanthropic money that goes to the ocean at the Moment is only 0.3%.

[Emma Nelson]

And 10 days before Christmas you're ambitiously hosting an event. Best of luck with that.

[Inga Thordar]

Of course we are.

[Emma Nelson]

What's happened? What's it about?

[Inga Thordar]

Well, it's about that. Exactly. We've got the top marine biologists in the world coming over, so we're going to make a big effort around it.

[Emma Nelson]

We wish you the very best with that. In the meantime, while preparing for all this, this, she's only gone and done the papers. Let's talk about these articles about the new head of MI6 who has issued warnings about what Russia is doing.

[Inga Thordar]

Yeah, I mean it's interesting. She's giving her first speech as the, as the head of MI6 and in the sort of pre released speech which we haven't seen in full, of course, she does talk about Russia quite a bit. Talks about how it is a threat to Security in Europe in particular, that it has expansionists and that its use of AI is causing misinformation and fake news. I mean, all of this is not new, but it's interesting that Russia is at the top of the list for MI6 right now and China isn't mentioned in the pre release. And I mean, this comes, of course, as European leaders are gathering in Berlin to try to end the war in Ukraine or continue those conversations, which seems by all accounts to have been going okay with Steve Witkoff meeting Zelenskyy for about five hours yesterday. So we're seeing some progress there. But it's an interesting message to come from the UK as Keir Starmer heads to Berlin.

[Emma Nelson]

Indeed. And the way that she actually phrases it is it says the export of chaos is a feature, not a bug, in the Russian approach to international engagement. That deliberate idea of destabilization, I mean, we've seen it for quite a long time from Russia. But the language that she uses is not necessarily, one would imagine, intended to appeal to governments. It is intended to appeal to the likes of you and I who are using our phones and going online and may now need to be more aware of this chaos.

[Inga Thordar]

Yeah, for sure. And I mean, again, this is not new for Russia. I mean, the troll farms were pretty much started by Russia back in the day. And so I think what's really interesting about what she's saying, and it's also good to mention that there are also comments made by Air Chief Marshall and Richard Knighton about this, that the situation is more dangerous than ever and the fear of war is looming. And I think that that's what they're really telling the general public, is that this is not just an academic exercise, that the fear from Russia is real, it's genuine, be it coming from AI or coming from real war, as we're seeing in Ukraine, and that there's no fear in Russia to move on its agenda.

[Emma Nelson]

Let's move on to Gaza. And an article on the Al Jazeera website. Hamas has confirmed that one of its senior commanders has been killed by an Israeli attack in Gaza. And very, very quickly, Hamas said this is not the terms of the ceasefire being adhered to.

[Inga Thordar]

That's correct. And phase two, which is now long delayed, which was due to be enacted. Yeah, well, by the middle of last year or this year, sorry, is now going to be delayed further. I mean, I think it' syou know, one of the conditions of the ceasefire was that hostilities would cease. But actually Gaza has been attacked daily by Israel and they'd carried out nearly 800 attacks, killing more than 350 people. So there is a, you know, Hamas believes that there's a clear breach of the ceasefire agreement and therefore this latest killing is not going to help with a very fragile situation that exists there. And of course, the humanitarian situation continues. That was another sort of term of the ceasefire that Israel would allow in humanitarian aid. And that hasn't happened at the scale that it was expected.

[Emma Nelson]

And indeed, the UN General assembly last week backed a resolution to demand Israel to do just that, to open unrestricted humanitarian access, but also to stop attacking UN facilities. So that sense that the NGOs, the charities, those who are the neutral yet trying to help humanity, are finding themselves very much under pressure still, very much so.

[Inga Thordar]

And, you know, those attacks haven't stopped and they haven't allowed the aid in. And I mean, the Rafah bordering remains closed. And that's another sort of condition that Hamas put on that they need that, that border needed to be opened in both directions, which still hasn't happened. And, you know, so the situation in Gaza remains absolutely dire. I mean, not to mention the floods that we heard that happened last week. So, you know, this continued humanitarian disaster, unfortun, is unfolding.

[Emma Nelson]

Finally, let's talk about. I don't know how many words of the year we've had. We've had almost a dictionary's worth, but Merriam Webster's had a go this year and it has actually come up with a brilliant word to describe when AI content is absolutely noticeable and is unpleasant. What's the word today?

[Inga Thordar]

Yeah, Merriam Webster has decided that the word of 2025 is slop.

[Emma Nelson]

Slop.

[Inga Thordar]

Yes.

[Emma Nelson]

Excellent. It's a brilliant word which should actually be brought back. Anyway, regard for his. It's AI reference, but it is directly attached to the fake content which is proliferating around AI.

[Inga Thordar]

Yeah, And I think it's the proliferation that is the interesting bit. I mean, we've had bad content for.

[Emma Nelson]

A long time, but very human made as well, which is often delightful.

[Inga Thordar]

Exactly. But this is like the scale of this content that we're seeing all on our feeds, which is interesting. And, you know, and just this word just really tells you how bad that content is. But I think it's interesting to hear what the president of Merriam Webster said that he sees a lot of optimism in this. The fact that they can do this word means that we are actually recognizing it, we're understanding when the bad content is coming our way and that it's likely not to be worth our attention. So I'm seeing this as a positive move from Merriam Webster and agree with Greg Barlow on that one.

[Emma Nelson]

Yes, I sort of get that. But I sort of wonder that the fact that slop has a slightly delightfulness to it. I'm not quite sure what it is or maybe I just like with weird word. But the fact remains is that slop doesn't have, dare I say, an agency, a word that has enough agency for people to do about it. You can just dismiss it as slop.

[Inga Thordar]

Yeah, well, that's correct. And actually I have two teenagers in my household who do that very regularly. Yes, they do. Don't just say, don't bother with it. It's slop. So it's interesting that, you know, that's really what caught my attention when I saw this article because I've heard this word and I've had to really think what it was. So now that it's sort of recognized as word of the year, I feel like I've got more agencies to use it back at them we can use.

[Emma Nelson]

We can embrace slop. Inga Godar, thank you so much for wishing the best for today. You're listening to the Globalist live on Monaco Radio. Now here's a look at some of the other stories we're keeping an eye on today. Hong Kong's last major opposition party has been disbanded. The Democratic Party served as Hong Kong's flagship opposition group before the city returned to Chinese rule. Its demise is being seen at as a culmination of Beijing's pressure on free speech. President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to drop Ukraine's aspirations to join the NATO military alliance. The Ukrainian president held hours of talks with US Envoys in Berlin this weekend to end the war with Russia. Negotiations will continue today. And Thailand's military is considering blocking fuel exports to Cambodia as fighting between the two countries spreads. Cambodia accused Thailand of striking civilian infrastructure. Thailand has said it targets only military targets. And those are the headlines on Monocle Radio. Now for a look behind the headlines, here's Monocle's contributing editor, Andrew Muller on his reaction to the shooting at Bondi Beach.

[Nick Bryant]

It is difficult to overstate the shock that will have been felt among Australians at yesterday's events at Bondi Beach Beach. Australians have been victims of terrorism. There were 88among the 202 people killed in the 2002 Bali bombings. But Australia itself has almost no history or tradition of deadly sectarian violence. Recent, vaguely comparable incidents, the 2014 siege at the Lint Cafe in Sydney. The 2015 murder of a police account in Sydney's western suburbs were understood more as psychosis than religion or politics. Whatever vainglorious pledges of fealty to Islamic State were made by the lone gunmen responsible. There were two shooters at Bondi, which indicates a plan involving at least that many conspirators of their motives. We may glean all we wish to know from their choice of tunnel target, an event celebrating the commencement of Hanukkah. As of this recording, 15 of the people who went to this day at the beach are dead, at least 29 injured, some critically. Leaders of Australia's Jewish community have long warned of the hazards of overindulging extremist elements. Among the regular protests against Israel's conduct in Gaza, there has been a steady tick of anti Semitic vandalism, capitalism, arson and threats of worse. Australia's noisy cohort of anti immigration xenophobes will also be insisting that the Bondi massacre vindicates their paranoia. There is considerable potential for further ugliness, but much attention will focus, as it should, on the hero of this miserable hour, Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43 year old fruit style seller who disarmed one of the Bondi gunmen and was wounded by the other. He is undergoing treatment for his injuries. While a nation and a world marvels at the footage of his actions, he could easily have taken cover and nobody would have blamed him if he had. Instead, he launched himself at an armed and self evidently murderous maniac. Al Ahmed would have understood that this could have been the last thing he ever did. He did it anyway. And there are nigh certainly people alive today who would otherwise also be counted among the victims of Sunday's horror. All of us individuals and societies prefer to think of ourselves as noble. None of us individuals or societies really have the least idea how we will react to a given circumstance until or unless we are in it, wittingly or otherwise. A middle aged shopkeeper from Sydney has demonstrated the attitude that Australia, and one might hope all nations should take to the eternal lunacy of anti Semitism. Nope. No you don't. Not here for Monocle Radio, I'm Andrew Muller.

[Emma Nelson]

That was Monocle's Andrew Muller there. For more you can sign up to our daily newsletter, the Monocle Minute. Just head to our website, Monocle Digital. Now. It was never going to end otherwise. Five years after the Hong Kong big media mogul Jimmy Lai was arrested, three national security judges have found him guilty of sedition and of collusion with foreign forces. His sentencing coincides with the demise of this weekend of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, the last formal opposition group in the city. Well, I'm joined now by Adam Hancock, a journalist who reports for npr, Al Jazeera, and is a regular voice here on Monocle Radio. He's on the line from Bali. A very good afternoon to you, Adam.

[Adam Hancock]

Hello. Good afternoon.

[Emma Nelson]

So has one of the great pro democracy voices finally been silenced today?

[Adam Hancock]

I think it's fair to say that to be honest, Jimmy Lai really is seen as one of the most prominent pro democracy voices in Hong Kong. He has now been in jail for five years awaiting this trial, awaiting his verdict. And really the results today, it was no surprise in all honesty, given the, the conviction rate of National Security law trials, nearly 100% conviction rate for them. So he didn't really stand much of a chance, in all honesty. The judges said that there was no doubt that Jimmy Lai had harbored resentment and hatred of China for many of his adult years. They looked back on some of his WhatsApp messages, including one message which said the new Cold War has just unfolded officially now he could face a life sentence in prison. His legal team have declined the opportunity so far to appeal against this ruling. They said they'll have a think about it, but again, with the ruling the way it was, it doesn't seem likely that an appeal will be successful and then next year he will be sentenced and as I said, he faces the rest of his life in prison. So, yeah, given how fierce a critic he has been of China over the years, he's a key figure in, in the huge pro democracy process that we saw in 2019 in Hong Kong. I would say, yes, he has been silenced today.

[Emma Nelson]

And this was a man who actually had the option to leave before this all happened.

[Adam Hancock]

Yes, yes he did. He is a UK citizen. He could have fled the country and come, sorry, he could have fled Hong Kong and, and come to the uk, but he decided to, to stay and, and fight for what he believed in, really. And that's kind of the story of Jimmy Lai. He, you know, he comes from a quite a poor background. He fled to Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was just 12 years old. And he's kind of worked his way up forming a multi million dollar empire, turned into a media mogul as well. And he's always been outspoken, always spoken about what he believes in, always believed in press freedom. And that's why for many in Hong Kong, he is seen as a hero, really, a man who, who was courageous, he took great risks to defend the freedom of Hong Kong as they saw it and yeah, he turned down the opportunity to flee and stayed and tried to maintain freedoms in Hong Kong.

[Emma Nelson]

This, this hero that's now been taken off the scene. What does this now mean for the. For the way that Hong Kongers will react or indeed will be able to go about their lives?

[Adam Hancock]

I think it's just yet another sign really that there is no room for dissent in Hong Kong anymore. There is no freedom for protest. There appears to be no freedom of expression, no freedom of the press, effectively because of the national security laws. I mean, it's quite hard to. To believe now really, that it was six years ago that we saw so many people out on the streets in Hong Kong protesting, testing. It's just almost unthinkable now really, with, with the way that Beijing has, has managed to get control of Hong Kong, managed to implement these laws and managed to silence the centers as well. I mean, we had the, the Hong Kong 47 as they were known, 45 of them were. Were jailed under the National Security Law in November last year. They're part of a group of activists who tried to pick opposition candidates for local elections and even that now as well. Local elections, elections that the candidates are effectively handpicked by Beijing. So I think really there is next to no freedom when it comes to expression or political will now in Hong Kong.

[Emma Nelson]

Yeah, we are at quite a tense moment in Hong Kong, aren't we? We had 160 people killed in the residential blocks fire in Taipo. And then recently we've had local elections which had almost record low turnout. So there is a sense within Hong Kong that people are. That there is a sense of dissatisfaction and unhappiness in the place.

[Adam Hancock]

Yeah, you can definitely say, I mean, we saw a lot of reaction to that tragic fire which took place a few weeks ago. There was, you know, discussions online, but a lot of it was shut down. There were warnings to media organizations based in Hong Kong about what they could report about the fire, how much they were able to speak to people who were angered about the construction destruction. And as you said, the local elections as well, the record low turnouts, people, they don't want to go and vote, they don't want to be involved in this process, but they have no real way to raise their voice on this. They have no real way to, to come out onto the streets and, and protest in a way that, like they used to. So, yeah, it's very much a much more closed society than it was any major opposition groups. They've now effectively been disbanded or become inactive Active, a lot of NGOs, student groups, they've all closed down as well. And really what's left of, of democracy in Hong Kong is, is these elections, which they describe as patriots only elections with, with candidates chosen by, by Beijing.

[Emma Nelson]

Finally, tell us a little bit more on this thread about the demise of the Democratic Party. It voted yesterday to disband on under pressure from Beijing. That was the main opposition party, was, wasn't it?

[Adam Hancock]

Yeah, that. That was. It was the last effective opposition standing in Hong Kong. And because of the pressure that they're facing, because of the, the restrictions that are put in place around elections, around political discussion, they have voted to basically disband and the last remaining hopes of any kind of opposition in Hong Kong effectively over now. And to be honest, I can't really see that coming back, at least anytime soon because of how restrictive these national security laws are, because of the way that the judicial process is in Hong Kong now, and because of rulings like today, there doesn't really seem to be any room outside of what Beijing wants and how Beijing wants Hong Kong to operate.

[Emma Nelson]

Adam Hancock in Bali. Thank you so much for joining us on Monocle Radio. You're listening to the Globalist. Now. For more than six decades, Sir Michael Palin has been a driving force in comedy writing and travel storytelling. From Monty Python to his journeys around the world, his work has now reached and delighted global audiences. And his latest project takes him to Venezuela, along with a new book that charts the trip. Or Monocle's Georgina Godwin caught up with him earlier and Michael began recalling how he and the other pioneer Pythons first came together.

[Michael Palin]

We'd all in the mid-60s, done television programs and contributed to programs like the Frost Report, where you wrote jokes and sketches. When we got together in 1969 to do Python, we decided that we would not sort of constrict ourselves or restrict ourselves by having sketches that had to have a beginning, a middle and an end. If there's a funny idea and it ran out of space, put it next to another funny idea and create a sort of surrealist stream of consciousness effect. So that was something we deliberately tried to do. And of course we had the help of Terry Gilliam, who was doing this wonderful animation which hadn't really sort of thing that hadn't been seen on English television at all. But that was our private thing. This is the way we thought it. We should. Whether anyone was going to watch or not was a real gamble. It was quite high risk. BBC put it on late at night. We thought no One was going to see it, but that there was. That was the key thing. The people who did see it were people who watched television late at night and usually students. So it became a cult show fairly quickly.

[UBS Narrator]

And did the group come together organically or could you compare it to these days, sort of manufactured boy bands?

[Michael Palin]

No, we came together organically in the sense of that. Well, all of us had been, with the exception of Terry Gilliam, had been to either Oxford or Cambridge. We'd all been grounded in university review. We all loved things like beyond the Fringe, Spike Milligan. So we all had similar ideas. What made us laugh. And the idea, the reason we got together, I think, was just that we felt that this particular group of us, this particular grouping would produce something, something that was. Was very funny because we could all be funny. So in that way it was organic. Yeah.

[UBS Narrator]

And I mean, so much of what you wrote has become part of the lexicon. I mean, the Spanish Inquisition, for instance, still gets quoted everywhere.

[Michael Palin]

Yeah.

[Emma Nelson]

Do you remember how that came about?

[Michael Palin]

Well, I think it probably came about late at night. I wrote a lot of my material and Terry, well, I say my material because Secretary, I think he had a slightly different working regime. But things would occur to you, just very silly things. Usually after a few cigarettes and some black coffee at about, you know, 1:30 in the morning. Oh, you get that and say, oh, what the heck, I never expected the Spanish Inquisition. And then go to bed. And then it was when it was performed, I think the next day or whenever we got together that one realized whether one really had gold material. So it was on the page, quite a jumble of irrelevant thoughts. But when we acted it out, that was when we decided what sketches were good or weren't. So an awful lot was down to the performance.

[UBS Narrator]

And was a lot of it discarded?

[Michael Palin]

Well, I can't give you a percentage, but there were good days and bad days. John and Graham wrote some very good. They wrote the big sketches like Cheese Shop and Dead Parrot and Argument Clinic. Terry and I were rather more sort of. We wrote by volume and it wasn't always good, but there was always some good stuff in it. So I think Terry and I had a failure rate. Eric was pretty consistent. He'd do good stuff and he'd do songs and all that. Looking at the shows now, there was stuff that should have been discarded. I feel it doesn't look to go back with random rose colored spectacles.

[UBS Narrator]

When it comes to films particularly, I'm thinking here of Life of Brian. How did the writing process change for that Was it, was it still collaborative?

[Michael Palin]

Well, we had sort of not perfected. We had established a writing process when we did Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was basically you would, we would all agree on a structure to the, the film, whatever it was, the Night Searching for the Round Table, the Bible story or whatever. And, and then we would stick to our writing groups most of the time. It's kind of funny, kind of loyalty really. And Terry and I worked and say Graham and John Eric on his own, Gilliam writing, doing his animation. The thing that changed there was that we would spend quite a bit of time when we had the material, structuring it and making sure that it worked. And as a film, because you can do comedy on television for about half an hour, three quarters of an hour, then it sort of becomes repetitive and the ideas run out. So if you're doing a 90 minute film, you've got to have a structure to it. And so quite a lot of time was spent working out the story and how it would work and how it would embrace all the material that we'd written.

[UBS Narrator]

And when you look back at the life of Brian, are there things that are in there you would never get away away with these days?

[Michael Palin]

Well, most of it, I think. I mean, I'm not joking really. It's. There are a lot of people who just didn't see the film, but immediately saw the conjunction of Monty Python and the Bible story as something inherently wrong that shouldn't be done. Disrespectful, if not blasphemous. So I don't know whether it be the same now. I think you have the same ideas from sort of church groups that we perhaps shouldn't, we shouldn't do something like that. But also I think some of the material itself probably now would be a bit considered a bit un PC.

[Emma Nelson]

And that was Michael Palin talking to Monocle's Georgina Godwin. For more conversations with top authors, tune in to meet the writers.

[UBS Narrator]

Eq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence, all to elevate you. Ubiquitous banking is our craft.

[Emma Nelson]

Now. Over the last year, Vietnam's largest conglomerate, Vingroup, has been on a remarkable run, unveiling major projects ranging from urban developments to a new move into culture and aviation. One recent example is a green light being given to a huge high Speed rail line from Ho Chi Minh City. To tell us more, I'm joined now by Michael Tatarsky, journalist based in Ho Chi Minh and author of the Vietnam Weekly Newsletter. Good afternoon, Michael. Hi. So tell us about this new high speed rail line from where you are.

[Michael Tatarsky]

Yeah, it's a bit of a curious project to put it mildly. So it's going from downtown Ho Chi Minh City next to Ben Thanh Market, which is a famous tourist destination, if people know that, to kind of an outer district of the city right on the coast where vingroup, one of their subsidiaries is building this enormous, enormous residential tourism development entirely on reclaimed land. That, that project in and of itself has some skepticism around it. So it's just from downtown to this project. So to put it bluntly, entirely self serving for VIN Group. But yeah, it's been approved with incredible rapidity with construction apparently beginning this coming this week and taking two or three years. But the high speed aspect is a bit curious because it's only about 40 or 45 kilometers long. So it's not clear why, why it would need to be high speed.

[Emma Nelson]

Right. So that actually asks more questions than it answers. And you mentioned something about self serving to VIN Group. What were you meaning by that?

[Michael Tatarsky]

Well, just because in the first phase at least it's just two stations, one downtown and then one at the project that they're building, which is another vingroup project. There's nothing else at the destination point, so it doesn't serve anything in between the two stations, at least for the time being. So it really the only thing to go to on it would be this vingroup project that's being built on the city limits.

[Emma Nelson]

And tell us a little bit more therefore about what kind of conglomerate vingroup is and, and how it is managing to have such a deep involvement in so many parts of Vietnamese infrastructure.

[Michael Tatarsky]

So the infrastructure aspect is slightly newer actually. So I mean for those that it's as you said in the intro, it's Vietnam's largest private corporation. The founder is Vietnam's rich, richest business person. He kind of made his first millions actually in the former Soviet Union, started an instant noodles business there that got sold to Nestle, came back to Vietnam and yeah, I mean they've. So for years their kind of moneymakers have been real estate and hospitality developments, but over the past year or two have expanded into energy development. They're building an LNG plant now, high speed rail, at least proposals that, that launched this year, robotics and they've also been in healthcare and education for a while. And VinFast their electric car company that some of your listeners are probably familiar with is probably their most famous international brand. But yeah, they have really expanded into almost any sector you could imagine, kind of, except for aviation, actually.

[Emma Nelson]

How are they able to do this to have such a huge amount of influence?

[Michael Tatarsky]

Well, it's a tricky question at times. I mean, it's clear they're very tightly linked with the government. Top government leaders routinely attend big project openings by vingroup. The government has made it. It's a stated goal that they want to have a handful at least of kind of national champion companies as the economy continues to expand. I think South Korea is kind of often mentioned as a model with their chaebols like Samsung and Hyundai that are across numerous sectors. Yeah, they are clearly very connected and able to get project approvals exceptionally quick, quickly and have become an ever greater, an ever more important part of the economy, for better or worse.

[Emma Nelson]

Indeed, apparently their plans add up to around 1 in 5, 1/5 of Vietnam's GDP. What happens if any of these projects are either delayed or go wrong?

[Michael Tatarsky]

Yeah, I mean, that's another difficult question. I mean, I think at the far end, the worst end of the spectrum would be something akin to the Evergrande kind of implosion that happened in China a couple of years ago ago when that company defaulted for you. I don't remember all the details, but it kind of wrecked China's real estate market for a couple of years. So I mean, there is that risk. Vinfast, for example, continues to lose hundreds of millions of dollars on a quarterly basis, basically. But at the same time it's kind of hard to see because they have had so much, at least rhetorical backing from the government. It's hard to see that happening now. It would be difficult to see kind of the government stepping in to bail them out. I don't think that would go over very well, but it does seem like there's no reused phrase but that they've kind of become too big to fail at this point.

[Emma Nelson]

Finally, Michael, What? You know, too big to fail. But where? Is there another voice somewhere that could actually add a little competition?

[Michael Tatarsky]

I mean, they do have, there is some competition. There's a couple of other big conglomerates, sort of like for the national high speed rail line that Vingroup has proposed building. I think at least two other Vietnamese corporations have proposed as well. It's worth noting VIN Group Group's proposal has not been accepted for that. It's still unclear who will. This is like a $67 billion, 2,000 kilometer long high speed Rail. The government has taken their time with that, as they should in terms of decision making. So there are a few other big private corporations, but they are starting to crowd out kind of potential smaller competitors that may be trying to make their way up to that level.

[Emma Nelson]

Michael Tatarsky, based in Ho Chi Minh City and author of the Vietnam Weekly. Thank you so much for joining us on monochromatic radio. Now, it was a monocle Christmas market here at Midori House in London this weekend. It was a final installment of several markets we've held in the last couple of weeks right around the world. And arguably I'm being a bit biased. We're saving the top guests for the final event. In a moment, we'll hear from the man himself, Father Christmas, Santa Claus. But first, let's hear from Jingle James. He's the man in charge of looking after Santa's wife reindeer.

[Michael Palin]

So today we have the lovely Dasha. He's now eight years old. He sees his fourth monocle market. And we've got Prancer, also known as Steve, that's his. That's his birth name and it's his second monocle market.

[Emma Nelson]

Excellent. So we have, you know, we're sort of getting into a bit of a groove here and I must confess, they're big today. Yes, they were bigger than they were last year. Right.

[Michael Palin]

Lots of lichen, lichen broth, lots of reindeer food.

[Emma Nelson]

Lichen broth. Now, when are we going to see. See this in some sort of shishi shop in Marylebone that we're all going to start eating lichen broth and we'll all live 3, 000 years?

[Michael Palin]

It sounds wonderful, but it doesn't look that appetizing.

[Emma Nelson]

Isn't it? Have you ever eaten it?

[Michael Palin]

No, absolutely not.

[Inga Thordar]

No.

[Michael Palin]

To be fair, reindeer are the only animal on the planet that can digest lichen.

[Emma Nelson]

Right.

[Michael Palin]

It's toxic to everyone else.

[Emma Nelson]

Okay.

[Michael Palin]

Probably not going to see it in Marleybone Heist.

[Emma Nelson]

We know. No more soups. No. Maybe cancel the soup. So tell us a little bit about the reindeer in if you've not been to the monocle Christmas market and not met the reindeer, or indeed if you don't know anything about reindeer, can you give us an entry level introduction to reindeer?

[Michael Palin]

They get new antlers every single year.

[Emma Nelson]

Amazing.

[Michael Palin]

They can run 44 miles an hour. Obviously, flight speed for Santa, 734 miles an hour. Very quick.

[Emma Nelson]

So how does that work then for flight speed? How do you get them sort of. Do you get them into training so they can.

[Michael Palin]

Absolutely.

[Emma Nelson]

And so what do they do? They start with like, like early, early.

[Michael Palin]

Flight training from 2 years old.

[Emma Nelson]

Yeah. Oh, really?

[Inga Thordar]

Okay.

[Emma Nelson]

And how do you do? How do you get them off the ground?

[Michael Palin]

Speak to Santa.

[Emma Nelson]

So we come now to the moment at the Monocle Christmas Market that every little boy and girl dreams of forever. And indeed I dream of all year, which is when we all come face to face with Father Christmas. Hello, Santa Claus.

[Father Christmas]

Hello there.

[Emma Nelson]

How's your weekend?

[Father Christmas]

Wonderful.

[Emma Nelson]

What have you been doing?

[Father Christmas]

Oh, you know, meeting people here, hearing their wishes and.

[Emma Nelson]

Okay, let's talk a little bit about what. What do people want this year?

[Father Christmas]

I had one in my pocket. It was very funny. This Margot, yesterday, the one that has a hamster, she wants to have a sewing machine.

[Emma Nelson]

Should have a sewing machine.

[Father Christmas]

Yeah, sewing machine.

[Emma Nelson]

Is she going to make clothes for the hamster?

[Father Christmas]

Yes. And the second, the top list in the second in the top list was long piece of good fabric.

[Emma Nelson]

Excellent.

[Inga Thordar]

And now.

[Father Christmas]

And that's all.

[Emma Nelson]

That's lovely. And it's. And it's what? And it's, you know, humble but perfect wishes. Okay, so we now have the request. The order has been put in. I'm assuming that Margot's been nice all year. She's on the nice list. What happens next, for example, with this piece of material, what then happens up in Lapland?

[Father Christmas]

Ah, we make it good quality and make a sewing machine also. And the market shall have it.

[Emma Nelson]

Okay, so. So we have Margot and she's. She is wonderful. So just tell us what happens then. So you've made the cloth, you've made the sewing machine, and then obviously you have to load up the sleigh. How do you go about doing this and making sure that all the labels are correct and the destinations are right and because this is like ups.

[Father Christmas]

Yeah.

[Emma Nelson]

Like never before.

[Father Christmas]

Yes. But never been made. Mistake takes any.

[Emma Nelson]

No, you don't.

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

It's wonderful.

[Emma Nelson]

So how do you. How do you organize yourself?

[Father Christmas]

It's about experience, Right? Yes. I've been doing that so many years.

[Emma Nelson]

Yes. And so have the elves. Yeah.

[Father Christmas]

Yes.

[Emma Nelson]

And how do you get them in training during the year to make sure that they, you know, they're accurate and they're.

[Father Christmas]

But they want to do it.

[Emma Nelson]

Yeah. Okay.

[Father Christmas]

I. It's. It's a trouble to keep them out, you know.

[UBS Narrator]

Oh, really?

[Father Christmas]

Yeah. Them to the holidays. They don't want. But I insist.

[Emma Nelson]

Oh, how lovely. What does nail polish holiday look like?

[Father Christmas]

It looks like a fishing, maybe Swimming.

[Emma Nelson]

Yeah.

[Father Christmas]

Because we have free time in summer.

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

Right.

[Emma Nelson]

And do you do the fishing and the swimming as well?

[Father Christmas]

Yes, I'm starting Right after Christmas.

[UBS Narrator]

Oh, really?

[Latika Book]

Swimming.

[UBS Narrator]

Where do you swim?

[Father Christmas]

You know, between the ice?

[Inga Thordar]

Yes.

[Father Christmas]

I dig a hole. I, you know, saw a hole and then I swim.

[Emma Nelson]

And do you have a debrief like you sort of see how 20, 20 things you learn to put it into practice next year?

[Father Christmas]

Yes. We're trying to do everything right.

[Emma Nelson]

And how just. And finally, just a quick question about how excited are you about Christmas?

[Father Christmas]

Like normally, I'm very excited. I'm very happy. I'm happy to bring people and families and friends together. I believe in Christmas, Christmas time. You know, this world is our common place, our common home. And I think this Christmas time is a very special time. And people are thinking about things that really matter to them. I'm sure of it. And I can see it, I can hear it, and I can feel it.

[Alison Kaplan Sommer]

Tell me a little bit more about that.

[Father Christmas]

You can see the smiles around us now. They believe it.

[Emma Nelson]

That was Father Christmas talking to me at the Monochromal Christmas market yesterday. Before that, thanks also to Jingle James. And that's all the time we have for today's program. The warmest of thanks to all our guests and to the producers, Anita Riota, Laura Kramer, Chris Chermak and Rima Takahashi. Our researcher was Joanna Moser and our studio manager was Steph Chungu, with editing assistance from Mariella Bevan. After the headlines, More music on the way. The briefing's live at midday here in London. The Globalist is back at the same time tomorrow. Hope you can join me for that if you can, but. But for now, from me, Emma Nelson. Goodbye. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.

[UBS Narrator]

With ubs, you have a truly global partner incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches and unexpected opportunities, leading you to insights that help answer the question. Questions that matter, delivered with passion, care and unmatched expertise. Because it's about rising with the dawn each day, knowing that we can do even better. That's what banking is to us. Not just work, but a craft. UBS advice is our craft.